Gender equality: Girls take up top jobs for a day

To commemorate International Day of the Girl on October 11, girls in the age group of 13-25 years from marginalised communities are performing various roles like managing traffic, editing a newspaper, taking over as an RJ, as village sarpanches, school principals and as a senior manager in the corporate sector.

In Delhi, Yasmin, a 20-year-old undergraduate student, took over the role of a senior manager of a global pharmaceutical company, Daiichi Sankyo, for one day on October 5.

Shatabdi, a 15-year-old girl from Delhi, is representing India in Spain’s celebration of International Day of the Girl where she will hold discussions with political representatives at the National Parliament, Spa-nish Youth Committee and with schoolchildren to promote equality for girls worldwide. She will also be participating in a takeover of the Madrid City Hall, Spanish Cinema Institute, Justice Court, Radio Stati-on and Plan International Office for one day.

16-year-old Ruby will take over as a radio jockey for Radio Mirchi, 23-year-old Sunita will take over as an editor of a national newspaper and 100 girls will manage traffic at 4 major locations in Delhi on October 10.

In addition to these, 10 Metro stations in Delhi will have signage and people will be requested to pledge their support for a safe Delhi starting from October 11. The Metro stations include Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi, Chawri Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Kashm-ere Gate, Uttam Nagar East, Janak Puri West, Anand Vihar, Vishwavi-dyalaya and Shahdara.

The initiative is a part of Plan India, a member of Plan International Federation. It is a nationally registered independent child development organisation, committed to creating a lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable and excluded children, their families and communities.

“Young people have a fundamental right and plenty of innovative ideas to be valuable and contributing members in decision-making. The more we work with governments — in corporate environments and in development — the faster we will make change happen,” said Yasmin.

Apart from India, girls’ takeover events are taking place across the world. This includes taking over the role as director general of UN office in Geneva, President of Nepal, mayor of Dublin, minister of status of women in Canada, headmaster of a school in China and Japan and minister of human rights in Pakistan, among others.